RUSH bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee has narrated a short film as part of the See The Good movement, an anti-hate campaign starring global celebrities who promote tolerance among young Canadians. Check it out below.
The campaign comprises a series of celebrity-narrated videos encouraging youth to change the conversation on social media by celebrating diversity in all its forms. The videos feature inspiring stories of people from marginalized cultures and visible minorities around the globe who have advanced humanity with innovations, discoveries and human rights initiatives.
With a reach of over 85 million organic global followers and growing via a network of ambassadors, other See The Good advocates include KISS‘s Gene Simmons and DISTURBED‘s David Draiman.
As a prominent Canadian musician best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and keyboardist of the rock band RUSH, Lee is regarded as one of the greatest rock bassists, whose style has influenced numerous musicians across genres. He has received multiple awards and accolades including induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.
Lee has a deeply personal connection to the Holocaust which he explores in his memoir, “My Effin’ Life”. Born in 1953 in Toronto, Canada, he is the son of Holocaust survivors Morris and Mary Weinrib, who were both survivors of Auschwitz. Lee has spoken about how his parents’ experiences have had a profound impact on his identity and artistic journey.
In a November 2023 interview with Lisa Desjardins of PBS NewsHour‘s arts and culture series “Canvas”, Lee was asked for his opinion on the tension now between free speech and rising hate that we see all over the world. He said: “People are smart. People should be able to discuss things. The death of discourse is not good for the human race. It’s not good for improving things. It’s through discourse and through educating each other about the things that are important to have a good, safe, peaceful life. That cannot go away. And when you see that starting to happen, it scares me — it really scares me a lot. And I am put in mind of what was going on in Germany before World War II. There are danger signs all over the world right now, and that worries me a lot.”
In October 2023, Geddy explained to CBC News‘ The National why he and his RUSH bandmate Alex Lifeson wanted to publicly speak out about the deadly conflict triggered by Palestinian group Hamas‘s shock attack on Israel. Asked by The National‘s Ian Hanomansing why RUSH wanted to clearly and unequivocally denounce Hamas’s violent attacks against civilians and express their anguish at the bloodshed in both Gaza and Israel, Lee said: “Well, it was a hurtful, terrible moment in modern history and speaking out as a human being that happened to be a Jewish person — this happened to Jewish people — so both Alex and I felt it was important to express the pain we were feeling watching this, what could be arguably called one of the worst massacres since World War II of the Jewish people.”
He continued: “It’s a complicated issue. I am not a person that wants to be a spokesman, spokesperson for Israeli politics; it’s not really about that. It was just a natural crying out of, ‘Wow. This is a terrible thing we’re watching.’ And it’s still terrible to watch.”
In a 2009 interview with Heeb magazine, Lee described himself as an atheist. “I consider myself a Jew as a race, but not so much as a religion,” he explained. “I’m not down with religion at all. I’m a Jewish atheist, if that’s possible… I celebrate the holidays in the sense that my family gets together for the holidays and I like being a part of that. So I observe the ‘getting together’ aspect.”
Lee‘s Jewish mom, who passed away in July 2021, was not only a massive supporter of her son’s music career but was also a Holocaust survivor.
Geddy, who was born Gary Lee Weinrib, reportedly took on his stage (and later, legal) name as an homage to his mother: her strong accent made “Gary” sound like “Geddy,” and the name stuck.
Source: blabbermouth.net
